EXPLORE
TASTE
REFLECT
CREATE
a Major. And though his performance at the recent Masters
championship in Augusta suggests
there is still life in this Tiger yet,
he now has new challenges, and in
December last year completed his
first big golf course design project
in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
His first course in the United
States, Bluejack National, on the
outskirts of Houston, Texas, is
WA L K I N G
scheduled to open in November
T H E WA L K
this year. And he is now expanding
1857
The first reference to
his new venture into Asia,
golfing shoes was made
where he is able to command
in The Golfer's Manual
when players were
an estimated US$17 million to
advised to rough their
redesign two courses in China: one
soles with nails for grip.
A dedicated golfing shoe:
in Beijing, and one on the outskirts
an Oxford with spikes
of the capital.
didn't appear until 1906.
There is, of course, a certain
irony to lucrative golf contracts
being dished out in China. This,
after all, is a country where golf
was banned for many years,
but now is hugely popular, with
enthusiasm for the sport growing
year on year as it becomes more
accessible to all.
In China, as in many other
d ri v ing
into space
places around the world, golf
1971
operates on a huge scale. Although
Holding the unofficial
record for the longest
there are no official figures, an
drive in history, is Apollo
estimated 80 million golfers
14 astronaut Alan
Shepard who hit a ball
worldwide play on close to 40,000
from the moon for a
courses across the planet. Golf
distance of about a mile
(1.6 kilometres). Compare
events are said to be worth close
this to the longest drive
to US$2 billion a year, and the golf
on earth, a record that
has been upheld for more
tourism market tops more than
than 40 years, achieved
US$1 billion.
by Mark Austin in 1974 by
driving a ball 515 yards
And there is no doubt that
(480 metres).
the balance of power is nudging
East. It is not only in China where
investment is pouring into the game, but throughout Asia,
including Vietnam and Laos — of which more later.
It is in the East where it is claimed golf was first given to
the world. In China, to be precise. Well, in a round about way:
chuiwan, a stick and ball game with similarities to golf was
played in the country before the end of the first Millennium.
The sport’s records then move to Europe where the Dutch
played kolf in the 14th century, a game that involved hitting
a ball against a post in the ground; and which ultimately
evolved into the game of croquet.
But ask any golfing historian about the origins of golf, and
all fingers point towards Scotland; with a little help from their
friends, in The Netherlands. The kolf craze was brought back
home by Scottish merchants, and it was adopted as their own
by making the target a hole in the ground. The rest, as they
say, is history. But it was almost a very short history.
In 1457, King James II declared golf illegal. He insisted
that people should spend their spare time practicing their
archery, just in case they needed those skills in the event
of the country finding itself under sudden attack. Happily,
G OL F I N G G R E AT S
Some of the most
memorable milestones
from the game of kings
laos
cambodia
Ho Chi Minh
VIETNAM, THE GOLF COAST
Coastline . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3,218 kilometres
Number of golf courses . . .
30+
Daylight. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.17 hours average
Golf cart hire . . . . . . . . . . . .
US$35 a round
B A N YA N T R E E
lang c Ô , C E N T R A L
VIETNAM
Banyan Tree Lang Cô
sits amid a 280-hectare
resort of natural beauty.
Aside from the resort's
championship golf course,
there are plenty of
outdoor pursuits to enjoy.
I love golf. But it rarely loves me.
Golf is one of those frustrating pastimes that can as easily
make you swagger along the fairway, basking in the glory of
that crisp four-iron approach that dropped perfectly on the
green; as it can reduce you to tears of frustration when you
reach the green in two, but then seven putt.
I have experienced both emotions. Many times. Alas, far
more the latter than the former.
Indeed, golf and I frequently question our relationship,
and the continuation of it. But we quickly kiss and make up.
Having been together now for more years than we care to
remember, we are, frankly, far too comfortable with each
other to go our separate ways.
Like many enthusiastic golfers all over the world, I
never give up the hope that the next 18 holes will be the
round I have always played to perfection in my head. Nor
do I ever stop believing that one day I will negotiate some of
the world’s finest golf courses, of which there are plenty to
choose from. But then, where golf is concerned, I always was
a dreamer.
U N D E R T H E B A N YA N T R E E
07/1 2
2015
A B O V E : The early
morning mist rises above
the fairways of Laguna
Lang Cô A cooling sea
breeze plays across
the greens of t